The Source of Strength
by Queen Tut
Summary: In an act of misguided justice, brash and arrogant Ana attacks three knights of Camelot and is put to trial before Uther. Knowing her chances of survival are slim, she's surprised when manservant Merlin claims her as his sister and saves her life. Now, she must work off her sentence in the palace, while she harbors a forbidden dream and even darker secret. I do not own cover image
1. Chapter 1

"Is it your wish to die today, peasant?"

The Camelot throne room was tense with King Uther's words as they rang through the crowd of knights, noblemen and, of course, Gaius and Merlin.

And yet the girl with her hands tied behind her back remained completely calm as she lifted her head, revealing almost a half smirk. "I stand by what I said, _your highness_." The strength in her voice hit the crowd even harder that the threat of Uther's. "Knights are put in place to protect their people, not abuse them. I refuse to apologize to a man not even worthy to wash my boots."

"Insolence!" Uther shouted as the room erupted into catastrophic mutters and whispers. Who was this young girl, who was able to speak to arguably the most powerful king in the land as if he were a common stable boy? "Arthur," the king commanded, turning from the young girl, whose pale blue eyes were now scanning the room back and forth. "Were you there? Are you aware of what she speaks?"

Arthur stepped forward, his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed, not as if mad, but rather confused. "There were several others at the scene, but none can explain it fully. She claims that Sir Roland, Sir Malar, and Sir Valenstar were terrorizing a shopkeeper and his children until she intervened. And yet Sir Roland and John seem to have a clearly different story."

"And Sir Malar?" Uther asked, stroking his chin softly.

"Still unconscious. Gaius claims it may be days before he recovers fully."

"Gaius, we have to do something." Merlin said as the two royals conversed. "I was there, I saw it; that girl saved those children."

"That may be so, Merlin," Gaius said softly, "But your word is hardly anything next to the word of three noble knights. If they deny the truth, there's not much we can do."

"Sir Roland! Sir Valenstar…" The two knights stepped forward at the king's command, one with a black eye and the other with a ripped ear. "What do you say happened here?"

Sir Roland coughed slightly, and wiped the hair out of his face so the crowd could have a better view of his purple eye before starting. "We were patrolling the streets of Camelot, my lord, when these four children ran into the middle of the road. As we tried to usher them back to their father…"

"Liars!" The young girl shouted.

"This miscreant attacked us!" He finished, eyes flaming as his took a step towards her.

"Wait a moment, Sir Roland…" Arthur said, taking the knight by the shoulder, "Are you saying that this one girl, when placed against three knights of Camelot, did all this," He gestured to the battered knights, "as well as put Sir Malar in a coma?" The knights fell silent. "If you ask me…" Arthur finished, "I believe this, if anything, proves that our faith in the two of you as knights, must be reevaluated."

"But sir!" Roland exclaimed.

"She is a woman, sire." Valenstar elaborated. "We wouldn't dare harm a mere woman."

"And yet you needed the help of ten other knights just to apprehend her?" Uther joined. "I do believe my son has a point in questioning your competency regarding this situation. But…" He turned again to the girl. "That still doesn't excuse your impudence regarding this entire affair."

"The only impudence here," she smiled, "Is that you have no idea how to properly rule those in your kingdom who need you most."

"Why, you ignorant waste of life!" Uther snarled, "I'll have you rot in the…"

"Sire!" The entire room turned to find the source of the loud, strong voice, and instead found the nervous face of the prince's black haired manservant.

"Merlin," Arthur frowned, "What are you doing?"

"Sire, I wish to plead on behalf on the girl." Merlin gulped, "You see, she has just come to Camelot, and she is unaware of the proper decorum that is expected in a kingdom."

"What care do you have for the life of a meaningless street urchin?" Uther gawked, humoring the boy.

"Well… You see, sir, she uh… she's my sister." Merlin said, thinking off the top of his head. This of course caused the hall to yet again go into an airy frenzy and merited a surprised, "Merlin!" from Arthur. But none were more surprised than the brown haired girl kneeling in the middle of the elaborate ball room. She made eye contact with the boy briefly, trying to search for any selfish motivations in his trying to save her skin. _What is this boy planning?_

"The fact that you have the misfortune to be related to this ungrateful wrench does not change the severity of her crimes." Uther said firmly.

"Sire," Arthur said, stepping forward once more. "If this girl means something to Merlin, I cannot let that trust go unwarranted."

"Arthur…" Uther said warningly.

"Perhaps she just needs some guidance..."

"Crimes such as hers cannot be unpunished."

"Then let her work out her sentence in labor." Arthur said. "Father, we are charging her for crimes we do not fully understand. If anything, let her work until we gather more evidence of her wrongdoings, then properly convict her."

Uther took in a breath, his eyes cold and hard. "If you try to save this girl, Arthur," He said firmly, "Anything and everything she does is entirely on your hands."

Arthur sighed, "I understand that, Father."

He paused and glanced once more at the battered pile of mousy hair and blue eyes in front of him. "Fine." Uther snarled reluctantly. "Get her out of my sight."

And with that, the crowd dispersed back to the dining hall where they had been frolicking merrily before the rude interruption. Merlin rushed over to the girl as the knights were untying her hands. But, before he could say anything, Arthur swooped in behind him. "I hope you appreciate what your brother is doing for you." He said angrily. "You're lucky to still be alive after what you did."

The girl looked as though she were about to say something snarky, but after glancing at Merlin, pulled herself back. "I realize my error in judgment…" She stopped, but then added hastily, "Sire."

Arthur looked her up and down. "What is your name?"

"Ana."

"What do you do well? Sew? Clean? Cook?"

"No, sir." Ana said, almost laughing.

"What kind of woman are you? Didn't your mother teach you anything?"

The girl suddenly became very stiff. "No, but my father did." She said firmly. "I can shoe a horse quicker than you can mount one."

Arthur scoffed at her cockiness. "Meet me at the stable at sunrise. Then, we'll see." Before he walked away, he grabbed Merlin's shoulder, "You better teach that girl some manners, Merlin. And don't forget this favor."

"Of course, sire. Thank you." And Arthur returned with the others to the dining room.

Merlin turned around and sighed, smiling. "Well, come on. You can sleep with me and Gaius tonight."

He started down the hall, but Ana didn't follow. "Why are you doing all this?" Merlin turned and saw the mistrust in the young girl's eyes, a kind of skepticism made from years of false friends and shattered promises.

"Doing what?"

"You and I both know very well I'm not your sister. I was dead today before you said anything." She tensed. "Why are you risking your skin to save mine?"

Merlin leaned in close and whispered so no one could hear. "I saw you today at the marketplace. You helped those children and saved that shopkeeper. No one deserves to die for that."

Ana was still for a moment, but finally let out a long breath. "All right."

"Good," Merlin smiled, "Now let's go find Gaius," and as the two walked on, Merlin muttered under his breath wistfully, "And find out who you really are."


	2. Chapter 2

"All right," Merlin started, leading Ana to the stables just as the sun was rising over an awakening Camelot. "So, let's go over it one more time…"

Ana sighed, straightening her new, less tattered blue tunic. "Merlin, I get it. No making fun of Arthur, no picking fights with any pretentious noblemen…" She sighed. "Just sit in this stupid castle and do what I'm told."

"Well, technically the stupid stables." Merlin smiled jokingly. "Look, you have to understand how much Arthur is putting his neck out for you."

"I never asked him to." Ana grumbled.

"God, are you always this appreciative?" Merlin asked, keeping in mind he'd only known the girl for a day, and he hardly knew what in the world she was thinking, or feeling. "If it wasn't for Arthur, do you know where'd you be right now?"

"I know," Ana sighed. "Look, Merlin, it's not that I don't appreciate what you did for me. But…" She ran a hand through her knotted hair.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Merlin. "Do you have family or friends you need to get back to? Is that why you don't want to stay here?"

And in a flash, Ana's face became very sullen, as if she had just stared into the eyes of Medusa and her very soul had turned to stone. "No," she breathed. "No, it's not that." She exhaled, "I just don't like staying in one place too long, you know?"

"Oh," said Merlin, a little embarrassed. "Okay…"

"You're late," The brawny prince appeared from behind a wooden door, reins of a beautiful black horse in hand.

"According to who?" Ana retorted instinctually. Casually, Merlin elbowed her in the ribs and she relented. "I mean… My apologies…" Merlin nugged her one more time and she groaned,"…sire."

Arthur just stared with a look usually saved only for Merlin, but with an extra dash of_ who the hell do you think you are? _"This horse needs shoes, my saddle needs to be polished, and his stall needs to be cleaned." He shoved the reins into Ana's hands. "And please, try not to take _all_ day, because when you're done, I have more."

Ana clenched her jaw and said through her teeth, "Yes, sire."

Merlin rested a hand on her shoulder. "Well, good luck Ana. I'll check on you later." Ana sighed, grabbed the reins out of Arthur's hands and walked back towards the stables.

"I swear, Merlin," Arthur said, throwing his sword's sheath onto Merlin's shoulder, "You knew you were lazy, ungrateful and obnoxiously stupid, but I never thought I'd see the day where I'd meet someone even worse than you."

"Yeah," Merlin laughed nervously, "Well, Mom always liked me best."

"Has she always been like this?"

Merlin shrugged and said, half smiling, "For as long as I've known her…"

"Well, I guess I owe you an apology, Merlin." Arthur said sarcastically. "It's not your fault you're an idiot. It runs in your blood."

"Yeah," Merlin scoffed softly as Arthur walked away. "Like being a prat runs in yours?" But even as he said it, he smiled, laughed quietly to himself and went about his morning duties.

"Ugh, Ferdinand," Ana scowled at the sleek black horse, shoveling in and out of the stable and scrunching up her face. "Could you have at least _tried_ not to make such a mess?" The black horse neighed and stomped a few times, causing her to smile. "Well, if you say so."

"One! Two! Three! Four! One…" The battalion of knights on the other side of the wooden fence chanted as they followed Sir Malar in practice. "Listen up, you brutes!" Malar shouted as they kept practicing. "The king has decided to have a dueling competition at the end of this week to find out which of you still has what it takes to be knights of Camelot! Anyone who doesn't make the cut will be sent back to wherever they came from! Now pair up for sparing!"

Ana rolled her eyes as she continued to clean the stall, secretly hoping Malar wouldn't notice her shoveling manure. But, as she continued to go about her duties, she couldn't help look over the fence at the knights sparing. And as her eyes landed on Sir Malar and his opponent, something in her couldn't help but stop and watch. "It's the wrong stance." She muttered under her breath. "The right foot is too close to the left." The other knight stumbled over himself and Ana scoffed. "Told you." She leaned forward. "Thrust and blind side ballet, thrust and blind side ballet!" She said a little louder. The other knight thrust his sword, but as he was turning away, Malar put his foot behind to trip him. "That's not fair!" She shouted.

Sir Malar turned suddenly, and immediately Ana regretted she'd ever looked over the fence. The knight's dark black hair and cruel brown eyes glowed with malice and he took slow heavy steps towards her. "Well, look who it is. The peasant, who think she's better than us." Finally, his face was only inches away from Ana's. "What would you know of fighting, witch?"

_Remember what Merlin said, Ana. _She thought to herself. _Stay low. Don't make waves. _"I could beat you in my sleep, Malar." Ana spat. "Despite the fact you cheat like a common thief."

"Oh, I'm the common thief, am I?" Malar growled in the back of his throat. "Well here…" He snatched the long, dull sword, once held by his opponent, and threw it at Ana's feet. "Let's see how long the street rat can stay on her feet."

Ana reached down slowly and picked up the sword. It was well made, quality silver, heavy and sturdy in her hand. She flexed her fingers around the handle a few times until they sat comfortably, Merlin's instructions still playing over and over in her head. No picking fights with pretentious noblemen. _Well, technically, he's the one picking a fight with me…_

She let her hand sit on the blade for one more moment before letting out a breath. _Sorry, Merlin. _"Oh, I'll stay on my feet," Ana smirked, setting up her stance and aligning her form, "Just make sure you're noble bullocks can keep up."


End file.
